Moccasin



F. J. GRAMS Aug. 1, 1933.

MOCCASIN Filed Feb. 19, 1932 INVENTOR. FPEd J. Grams ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 1, 1933 UNITEDJSTATES P ENT ,oluucr.v

This invention appertains to the art of making moccasins, and'has for one'of its primary objects the provision of novel means for forming the vamp of the moccasin,'wher'eby the vamp can be given a predetermined and rigid form, so as to facilitate the correct shaping of the moccasin and the sewing thereof.

I Another important object of my. invention is the provision of novel means for uniting the toepiece of the upper with the vamp, whereby: a strong, durable and waterproof connection will be had, and whereby the moccasins can be quickly made with a'minimum amount of efiort on the part of the operator.

In the uniting of the toe-piece of the upper with the vamps'of moccasins, it is customary to sew the upper to the vampby hand. This has been necessary due to the form of the upper. Considerable difiiculty has been experienced with moccasins where the upper is connected with the vamp by hand stitching. The stitches have a tendency to pull, so that the water-tight connection will be lost, and these stitches break incident to the constant bending of the, moccasins when the same are in use. Further, where the moccasins are hand made, a single operator can only make between six to twelve pairs a day.

It is, therefore, a further object of my inven tion to provide means whereby the upper can be united to the vamp by machine stitches, so as to give a strong and water-tight joint and whereby a single operatorwill be permitted to sew approximately two hundred pairs of moccasins during the working day.

A further object of my inventionis the provision of means for uniting the upper and vamp of a moccasin together, in which the upper is so formed as to provide a U-shaped channel around A further object of my invention is the provision of novel means for forming a moccasin, in

' which a substantially U-shaped channel is formed in the upper for receiving the upper edge of the vamp, the upper edge of the vamp being held in the channel by the use of a suitable cement, which will allow the handling of the upper and Vamps as a unit, so that the same can be sewed on a machine.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a moccasin of the above character, having a molded vamp, so that the vamp will be of a predetermined shape and configuration, and whereby the upper can be connected therewith in a novel and efficient manner.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be here inafter more specifically described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: I

Figure l is a transverse section through a moccasin constructed in accordance with my invention, illustrating the novel means employed for connecting the toe-piece of the upper with the vamp of the moccasin;

Figure 2 is a detailed perspective view of the toe-piece of the upper and;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of-the molded vamp, showing the predetermined shape there-- of.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter A generally indicates a moccasin constructed in, accordance with my invention. As shown, the mocassin A comprises the novel vamp V and the toe-piece T of the upper. toe-piece and the vamp are united in a novel manner, by machine stitches, as will be later set forth.

In the forming of moccasins, it is customary The to fold the leather for the vamp and to unite the toe-piece of the upper to the vamp by hand stitches. This is a tedious operation and not only do the stitches tend to pull apart, but these stitches also break under constant bending of the'moccasin, when the same is in use.

Further, where the moccasin is sewed by hand, anoperator working at a maximum speed cannot make more than twelve pairs of the moccasins in a single Working day. With my improved method of uniting the toe-piece of the upper with the vamp by machine stitching, a single operator can average two hundred or more pairs of moccasins a day.

In the formation of my moccasin, I preferably use a vamp V, which is constructed and formed in a novel manner, which forms an important part of my invention. The vamp formed according to my invention, can be connected to the upper bymy improved seam, or can be congiven the desired and. predetermined shape, which conforms to the foot and to the last.

This provides a substantially rigid formed vamp having the bottom wall or sole and the outer vamp walls 6. After the vamp has been. molded into the predetermined shape, the same can he trimmed of excess leather.

In the forming of the upper, the toeepiece T has the outer edge of the top wall 7 formed with an lip-struck marginal channelv 8 of "a substantially inverted U-shape, forming inner and outer substantially vertically spacedparah lel walls 9 and 10. These. walls 9 and 10 are placed over the upper edge of the vamp and are temporarily united therewith, by the' use of cement or other desired adhesive. .By this arrangement, the upper and vamp are temporarily united afterwhich the upper and vamp are sewed together, on a. machine which forms horizontally 'dispbsedldck stitches 11. p

As shown, the horizontally disposed lock stitches 11 extend through theparallel walls'9 and 10 of the upper and through the top edge of the side Walls oi the vamp. I found that the upper and vamp can be effectively sewed with the attachment of a. Union lock stitching machine,

or with the attachmentof the Goodyear outsole stitchingmachine. 1

'After the upper has been connected with the vamp by my method, excess leather can be trimmed from'the toepiece close to the stitchmg. From the foregoing description, it can be seen that I have provided a novel moccasin embodying an improved type of vamp and an improved means for connecting the toe-piece of an upper.

with the vamp,

Changes in details may be madewithout destitching disposed in a horizontal plane at right angles to the Walls of the channel and the side walls of the vamp. V

2. The method of making a moccasin, which consists in first molding an inverted U-shaped channelon'the-marginal edge of an upper, second molding a vamp into a predetermined substantially rigid shape, third placing the top edge of the vamp in the channel; then uniting the top edge of the vamp with the walls of the channel by an adhesive, and finally. machine stitching through the edge of the vamp and walls of the channel with the stitching disposed in a horizontal plane at right angles to the walls of the channel.

3. The method of making a'moccasin, which consists in first molding a vamp into a predetermined substantially rigid shape with upstanding side and connecting front walls, second molding i an upper toe piece from a single blank of material to form a body portion and an inverted U-shaped marginal channel; placing the upper edge of the side walls and connecting front wall in said channel; then temporarilyuniting the upper edge of the vamp with the walls of the channel, and finally stitching through the Walls of the channel and the upper edge of the sidewalls and connecting front wall of the molded vamp.

FRED J. GRAMS. 

